RipoffReport.com Loses 47 USC 230 Motion to Dismiss–Hy Cite v. badbusinessbureau.com
By Eric Goldman Hy Cite Corp. v. badbusinessbureau.com, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38082 (D. Ariz. Dec. 27, 2005) This is the third 47 USC 230 ruling involving badbusinessbureau.com/RipoffReport.com. The first two were: * MCW, Inc. v. Badbusinessbureau.com, L.L.C., 2004 WL…
Google Sued for Trademark Infringement Based on Third Level Subdomain–Jews for Jesus v. Google
By Eric Goldman Jews for Jesus v. Google, Inc., 05-CV-10684 (SDNY complaint filed Dec. 21, 2005) It’s no surprise that Google has been sued again for trademark infringement, but the basis of this lawsuit is surprising. Rather than another lawsuit…
City of Heroes Lawsuits Settled
By Eric Goldman A complex but interesting legal fight between Marvel and NCSoft, about City of Heroes players generating characters that look like Marvel-owned characters, has come to an end. The press release announcing the settlement. Settlement terms were not…
New Metatag/SEO Lawsuit–Salu, Inc. v. Pitts
By Eric Goldman Salu, Inc. v. Pitts (E.D. Ca. complaint filed Nov. 17, 2005). Introduction Salu operates skinstore.com, a website that sells skin care products. (With that name, I was totally expecting to find a porn site, but the website…
Supreme Court Denies 1-800 Contacts Cert Petition
By Eric Goldman Today the US Supreme Court denied 1-800 Contacts’ petition for certiorari of the second circuit opinion in 1-800 Contacts v. WhenU. I’m not surprised by the denial, but the bigger question is–now what for 1-800 Contacts’ campaign…
Keyword Lawsuit Between Office Depot and Staples
By Eric Goldman Office Depot, Inc. v. Staples, Inc., No. 05-80901 (S.D. Fla. complaint filed Oct. 4, 2005 and answer/counterclaims filed Oct. 18, 2005). The WSJ picked up this story a few weeks ago, but I finally got my hands…
Rothman on Initial Interest Confusion
By Eric Goldman Jennifer Rothman, a new full-time law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, has published Initial Interest Confusion: Standing at the Crossroads of Trademark Law, 27 Cardozo L. Rev. 105 (2005). She uses the initial interest confusion…
WhenU Opposition to 1-800 Contact’s Certiorari Petition
By Eric Goldman WhenU has filed its opposition to 1-800 Contact’s petition for certiorari from the US Supreme Court. WhenU’s main argument: “1-800 mischaracterizes the decision below as holding that the “covert” use of a trademark can never support an…
California Anti-Phishing Law–Cal. B&P Code Sec. 22948
By Eric Goldman Going through my stack, I came across Cal. Business & Professions Code Sec. 22948-22948.3 (SB 355), California’s recently enacted anti-phishing law. In general, compared to other state anti-Internet behavior laws, this law is relatively targeted and unobjectionable….
Jacoby on Sponsorship Confusion
By Eric Goldman Sorry for the light blogging–between my travel/presentation schedule and the Jewish holidays, it has been hectic! Jacob Jacoby is a leading trademark survey expert/consultant–I imagine he’s been an expert in over 150 trademark cases. He recently posted…